Aria Entertainment today announces the casts and creative teams for the eight shows in the third From Page To Stage season of new musicals, running from Monday 26 October to Saturday 21 November.
Among the wealth of major talent involved in the annual season at the Tristan Bates Theatre in the heart of the West End are West End and Broadway stars Sally Ann Triplett and David Burt and Laura Jane Matthewson, winner of the 2014 Evening Standard Award for Best Emerging Talent for her breakthrough starring role in Dogfight.
All three are taking part in OUT THERE, a new musical from Elliot Davis and James Bourne, the writing team behind the West End musical Loserville. OUT THERE plays Tuesday 27 to Thursday 29 October. This is a chance to see some of the best British Musical Theatre stars premiere a new work.
Olivier Award-nominated David Burt is one of the West End’s most respected and in-demand leading men. He has appeared in dozens of notable West End productions, including playing Enjolras in the original cast of Les Misérables, Magaldi in the original cast of Evita, Pontius Pilate in Jesus Christ Superstar and Count Fosco in The Woman in White. David’s other credits include Cats, Chess, The Far Pavilions, Closer to Heaven, Taboo and Kiss Me, Kate, as well as seasons at the National Theatre and RSC. He was nominated for the Best Actor Olivier Award for his performance as Macheath in the RSC’s The Beggar’s Opera.
Sally Ann Triplett starred on Broadway in Sting’s The Last Ship. Her numerous West End roles include: Donna in Mamma Mia!, MissAdelaide in Guys and Dolls, Roxy Hart in Chicago, Berta in Acorn Antiques, Reno Sweemey in Anything Goes, Nancy in Oliver!, Grizabella in Cats and Ruby Keeler in Jolson.
Laura Jane Matthewson made her London stage debut in Benj and Pasek’s acclaimed musical Dogfight and went on to win the 2014 Evening Standard Award for Best Emerging Talent. She also won the Ian Fleming Award for Outstanding Musical Theatre Performers.
From Page To Stage’s headline British musical The Stationmaster, with Music and Lyrics by Tim Connor and Book by Susannah Pearse, will get a two-week run as the centrepiece of the season from Tuesday 3 – Sunday 15 November.
The cast features: Nigel Richards (Luther Billis, South Pacific, RTE; Quazimodo/Frollo, Notre Dame de Paris, International Tour); Jessica Sherman (Sister Berthe, U/S Elsa, The Sound of Music, Bill Kenwright Ltd); Emily Bull (Fritzie u/s Sally Bowles, Cabaret, Bill Kenwright Ltd; Young Lucy u/s Johanna, Sweeney Todd, Adelphi Theatre; Cosette, Les Miserables, West End); Jon Osbaldeston (Fyedka, Fiddler on the Roof, London Palladium and national tour; Harry The Horse, Guys and Dolls, Leicester Haymarket); David Francis (Ensemble/ first cover Piangi The Phantom of the Opera, Her Majesty’s Theatre; Neville Landless, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, Arts Theatre); Annie Wensak (Mrs. Hoallum, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Regents Park Open Air Theatre; Frau Schmidt, The Sound of Music, Leicester Curve); Annette Yeo (Film adaptations of London Road and Les Miserables; Soloist, The Three Phantoms UK tour); Matt Harrop (Max, The Sound of Music, Leicester Curve; Mr Allardyce, Betty Blue Eyes, National tour); Richard Brindley (Strephon, Iolanthe, UK Tour; Julian, The Dreaming, Union Theatre).
Director: Bronagh Lagan. Musical Director: Caroline Humphris. Designer: Nik Corrall. Choreographer: Iona Holland.
Readings in the season also include a new piece from Tim Sanders and Charles Miller, whose Return Of The Soldier received a full production last year at Jermyn Street Theatre after a reading in a previous season.
Producer Katy Lipson of Aria Entertainment said: “We are thrilled to confirm top-notch casts for all this year’s chosen works – one full scale musical, three readings and four showcases amongst others. The talent involved will deliver the best possible showcases for these new works. The 2015 season was selected from an open application process which saw 80 musicals submitted and presents a mixed programme of work at various stages of development. From Page To Stage serves as a platform for new writing with a focus on new British musicals and supports not only the writers, but our audiences too. We hope the season will continue to act as a strong vehicle for the development of new musicals here in the UK and help secure partners for the future of some of the works included.”
FROM PAGE TO STAGE – FULL LISTINGS WITH CAST & CREATIVES
THE STATIONMASTER
Tuesday 3 – Sunday 15 November
Tuesday – Friday at 7.30pm, Saturday at 2.30pm and 7.30pm, Sunday at 2.30pm
Tickets – £18.00 / £16.00
Press Night Wednesday 4 November
The Stationmaster is a brand new British musical with Music and Lyrics by Tim Connor and Book by Susannah Pearse.
Inspired by Horvath’s Judgment Day, translated by Christopher Hampton
It’s 1958 and we’re in the town of Kirby in the Lake District. Railway stationmaster Thomas Price is the pillar of the local community. Until a young woman arrives on the platform and distracts him from his duties. Thomas forgets to set a crucial signal and a tragic train crash occurs. The guilty pair decide to cover up their mistake. But as ghosts start to appear to them in the town, things begin to unravel…
Cast: Nigel Richards, Jessica Sherman, Emily Bull, Jon Osbaldeston, David Francis, Annie Wensak, Annette Yeo, Matt Harrop, Richard Brindley
Creatives: Director: Bronagh Lagan. Musical Director: Caroline Humphris. Designer: Nik Corrall. Choreographer: Iona Holland.
Three musicals will be presented in the form of fully-staged, rehearsed readings
OUT THERE
Tuesday 27 to Thursday 29 October at 7.30pm
Tickets: £12.00
A new musical from Elliot Davis and James Bourne, the writing team that brought you Loserville.
Newman Carter, a world famous astronaut, mysteriously disappears in 1969. Forty years later, a troubled young man, turns up on his doorstep with a letter, which changes everything, for everyone… Out There is an original tale about fathers, grandfathers, families, love, loss, hope, learning to be a child, learning to be a parent and never, ever, giving up on your dreams. This show gives cast and audience alike the chance to go where no one has gone before, on the journey of a lifetime. The show is set in the deep south of the USA and follows the fortunes of runaway Logan Carter, how he saves the town of Hope, Texas, and rediscovers his family at the same time.
Cast: Luke Newton, David Burt, Mark Anderson, Daniel Buckley, Laura Jane Matthewson, Sally Ann Triplett Sarah Lark, Jenna Boyd, Stephanie Tavernier, Christopher Howell
Creatives: Book/Lyrics Elliot Davies. Music/Lyrics James Bourne. Director Lotte Wakeham. Musical Director Elliot Davies
FIVE CHILDREN & IT
Friday 30 and Saturday 31 October at 7.30pm and Saturday at 2.30pm
Tickets: £12.00
A new musical with Book by Helen Watts, Music and Lyrics by Eamonn O’Dwyer.
Based on the original story by E. Nesbit.
When exploring the land around their new country house, Cyril, Anthea, Robert, Jane and ‘The Lamb’ come across a rare and extremely grumpy Psammead. This magical ‘sand-fairy’ is able to grant any wish the children ask for, with the rule that at sunset their wish will turn to stone or disappear. The children are initially excited at having their wildest dreams come true but soon discover that making these wishes isn’t quite as easy as they thought. A summer of mayhem ensues, and the children find that they must pay the price and grant the Psammead a wish of his own…
Cast: Grace Osborn, Holly Sayer, Susannah Van Den Berg, Joseph Taylor, Michael Hamway, Dominic Brewer, Hugh Osborne
Creatives: Book Helen Watts. Music and Lyrics Eamonn O’Dwyer. Director Michael Howcroft. Musical Director Benjamin Cox.
PRINCESS PHYLLIDA’S FORTNIGHT
Tuesday 17 to Thursday 19 November at 7.30pm
Tickets: £12.00
A new musical with Book and Lyrics by Tim Sanders and Music by Charles Miller.
Everyone thinks Phyllida lives inside a fairytale…except Phyllida. The pampered Bavarian princess is planning to escape the turrets and tiaras for a more simple life. Spurning a distinctly handsome prince, Phyllida absconds with her long-suffering tutor, Fritzing, under the name of Ethel Shultz. But the unlikely exiles settle in a God-fearing Somerset village, where the locals are ill-prepared for a German princess who can’t help acting like one! As Phyllida wreaks havoc, a certain jilted prince catches up with her. The runaway princess must now make a choice… Princess Phyllida’s Fortnight is a quirky delight – a ripping yarn of derring-do, heady romance and Latin grammar!
Cast: James Patterson, Daniel Miles, Katie Ann Dolling, Laura Johnson, Gary Tushaw, Felicity Duncan, Fenton Gray, Stewart Clarke Julie Jupp, Amy Mallett.
Creatives: Book and Lyrics Tim Sanders. Music Charles Miller. Director Charlie Westenra. Musical Director Simon Lambert.
The season will open with a one-off performance and is completed by a set of showcase evenings that will present four pieces in development in one performance
FROM PAGE TO STAGE SHOWCASES
Friday 20 and Saturday 21 November at 7.30pm and Saturday at 2.30pm
Tickets: £15.00
These showcases will present 25-minute excerpts of four new musicals in development, performed by a repertory company of actors – showcase castings will be announced later.
Shows included are:
Lord Arthur Savile’s Crime
By Kirby and Beverly Ward
Based on the story by Oscar Wilde
With only a fortnight remaining before he is to wed his beloved Sybil, Lord Arthur Savile attends a party where a palm reader foretells a horrifying event in his future: he will commit murder. A stunned Arthur realizes a happy marriage is now impossible. Frightening mishaps the following morning make it clear that Arthur may, in fact, murder his darling Sybil if he doesn’t act quickly. With the help of his trusted manservant, Saunders, Arthur embarks upon the only conscientious course of action a devoted fiancé would take – to kill someone right away.
Director: Scott Le Crass. Musical Direcor: Freddie Tapner.
Cousins Grimm
By Michael Biello, Dan Martin, and Ted Sod
Jackie and Leon, The Cousins Grimm, are adapting some of their ancestors’ lesser known stories into a musical adding a queer sensibility to them. Their contemporary twists on the stories represent their combined subconscious and reflect their own personal lives. When the characters they are inventing decide they are not happy with the direction the musical is taking, they express themselves to the authors. Leon is disturbed by this phenomenon, but Jackie encourages Leon to accept it and go forward. Then Jacob Grimm appears to advise the writing team, when something very odd happens…
Director: Scott Le Crass. Musical Director: Freddie Tapner.
This is Also England
By Joseph Finlay and Raphael Smith
1957, West London. In a deeply conformist post-war society, immigrants from the West Indies, Eastern Europe, and Ireland struggle to fit in. Lloyd George Gambles, recently arrived from Antigua, urges his family to assimilate into all things English, but his younger daughter Miriam has other ideas. In the run down, overcrowded house they live in she meets Lazar, a reclusive and eccentric Hungarian Jew, who tries to hide away from the world. With Lazar’s help, Miriam confronts her father and their corrupt landlord, and in doing so learns that if you want a home you have to make it yourself.
Book/Lyrics: Joseph Finlay. Director: Christian Durham
Just a Man
By Johnny Whetstone, Mick Bass, and Guy James
The true-life story of Walter Tull, the first mixed-race British footballer in the top English division and the first mixed-race combat officer in the British Army. Battling racial discrimination that threatens to stop his career and chooses to play the ‘greater game’ when he joins the army at the outbreak of World War 1, rising to Second Lieutenant, despite Military Law excluding ‘Mulattos’ from exercising command as officers.
Book/Lyrics: Guy James. Director: Christian Durham
Gala Night
Monday 26th October at 7.30pm
Tickets: £15.00
An evening of individual songs from new British musicals in development which were submitted to the From Page To Stage Season. The Gala evening will also feature a Q&A with host Terri Paddock about the necessity for investment into the development of new musical theatre. There will be a panel including the From Page To Stage Producer, a Director, Musical Director and a Venue Representative.
For more details about the full season of work visit:
www.tristanbatestheatre.co.uk
@frompage2stage
Facebook/FromPageToStageMusicals
